09/11/2026
Time for another flashback Friday!
1957, Ivor and Berit Nordenson boarded a plane from Oslo to Canada with their two young children, Kjell and Vera. Behind them was the trauma of WWII-occupied Norway; ahead of them was a wide-open future, and just enough cash in their pockets for a return ticket if things didn’t work out.
Their new beginning started right here in Emery Village at Weston Road and Finch. They were placed in an old, long-empty farmhouse near what is now Finch and Jayzel, working on Richard Storer’s Rivalda Farms. Life moved early and fast: Ivor was up by 6:00 a.m. every morning milking 50 cows, while 11-year-old Kjell picked up English at Emery Public School with the help of a patient local teacher.
Though the farm was sold just a year later to make way for the area’s rapid development, eventually becoming the Finch Main Gardens apartments in 1959, the community left a lasting mark on the family. Ivor went back to his trade as a printer in Weston, and the Nordensons built a life in the area.
In 2019, at 98 years young, Berit Nordenson returned to the very land where her family’s Canadian story started. Thanks to her son Kjell mapping out their old neighborhood connections, she was able to stand on the exact spot where they took their first leap of faith nearly seven decades ago.
In the coloured photograph, there is Berit and Kjell revisiting their initial home in Emery, alongside the building’s then superintendent, Steve Cutts! 🇳🇴🇨🇦
